Correction on Prospect Contracts

 

Malcom Subban with another 2012 Bruins draft pick, Brian Ferlin, at 2012 Bruins Development Camp over the summer. (Photo Credit: Flickr/slidingsideways)

In my post earlier today about prospects, I made a comment about the eligibility of OHL prospects joining the Providence Bruins. The rules are that if a player has played in juniors, he cannot play in the AHL until the season he turns 20 before December 31, but he can go to the NHL anytime. He can go to the AHL when his junior team is finished for the season. Of course, he has to have a contract with the team that drafted him to go to their AHL or NHL team at all.

I commented that Malcom Subban, who was drafted by the Bruins 24th overall in the 1st round of 2012, would not be eligible to join the Providence Bruins when his OHL team is eliminated from the playoffs because he doesn’t have a contract with the Boston Bruins. This was incorrect – he does indeed have a contract with the Bruins that he signed before the lockout.

To go a bit further into the scenario of Subban joining either the NHL or AHL — since he doesn’t turn 20 until December of next season (2013-14), he would be eligible to join the AHL then. Players on entry-level contracts can play a certain number of NHL games before burning the first year on that contract (ELC are 3 years), but they can play any number of games in the AHL without using up the NHL ELC. Subban could, in theory, join the Providence Bruins when and if his OHL team’s playoff run ends this season, and he could also join full-time next season.

If Anton Khudobin goes elsewhere to be a starting goaltender, Niklas Svedberg will likely be Tuukka Rask‘s backup next season, which would open the slot for Subban to develop further in the AHL. Khudobin is an Unrestricted Free Agent at the end of this season, and Rask is a Restricted Free Agent.

One final note on contracts – a team can only have up to 50 total contracts at a team. The Bruins are currently at that limit (roster players + non-roster players – buyouts = total). In the AHL, they can easily sign someone to a Professional Tryout Contract and have him play in games if someone is needed, but in the NHL they aren’t allowed to actually play if they’re on a tryout (see Jay Pandolfo earlier this season before he signed his actual contract). The Providence Bruins also have players signed to their team that are not signed with Boston (Bobby Robins and Kyle MacKinnon to name my 2 favorites that I wish were signed by Boston), so obviously they could never be called up to Boston.

That’s about the extent of my contract knowledge. I hope I didn’t get anything else wrong or confuse anyone too much. Please feel free to correct me on anything and everything.

Chris Bourque on Waivers

Chris Bourque’s reaction when he found out he was placed on waivers, probably.

The Boston Bruins have assigned Chris Bourque to the Providence Bruins of the AHL, which means they have placed him on waivers. Bourque must clear waivers, which he will be on until noon tomorrow, before he can return to Providence.

Will another team claim Bourque while he is on the waiver wire? Let’s hope not. He is a strong asset to Providence. It’s no secret the Bourque is one of the best players in the AHL the past few years, and it has been unfortunate that the skill does not translate when he plays in the NHL. However, the Providence Bruins are in a strong spot to make a run for the AHL’s championship, the Calder Cup, and Bourque will undoubtedly strengthen the teams chances.

Bourque currently has a 2-way contract that turns into a 1-way contract next season. There is always a chance he will be called up to Boston in the future (if he clears waivers) if necessary. For now, he is replaced in the lineup by Jay Pandolfo on the 3rd line. Don’t expect that to be permanent. Lane MacDermid is also still with the Boston team (because he is awesome). He will hopefully get a chance to play in more NHL games soon.

If the Bruins need to call up others from Providence, my money is currently on Ryan Spooner – although he is only 1 game back from injury and is still a young player who will benefit from further development in the AHL. Jordan Caron, after being re-energized on the Buzz Saw line with Bobby Robins and Christian Hanson, may move to the top of the call-up list if he can continue to improve and move away from the earlier abysmal AHL season he has had.

This weekend, the P-Bruins games will be important for all the players looking to prove they want to and deserve to play with the Big Club.

In other news, Garnet Exelby was suspended for 1 game by the AHL for a boarding call in last Sunday’s game. He will miss tomorrow night’s game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Providence.

Bruins Scrimmage Bruins and Bruins Win

Dougie Hamilton (53) attempts defensive zone coverage on the penalty kill with Jamie Tardif parked in front of the net, where he has scored the most goals and power play goals for Providence in the AHL this season before getting called up to Boston training camp (Photo Credit: Steph Vail/Flickr)

Boston, Providence, who cares? We are all Bruins.

Some people were upset that the “real” Bruins lost, but I don’t know where you’ve been the past 5 months because I’ve been in Providence watching the only “real” Bruins available to see play and they’re pretty awesome. And I am glad they won tonight, because they worked hard and it was adorable.

And also, because they are all Bruins! With the exception of 2 players on Providence that do not have contracts with the Boston Bruins (Bobby Robins and Kyle MacKinnon), every single player who played in the Black and Gold Scrimmage tonight is either on the Boston Bruins current team, in their training camp, or will be a part of their future.

Allow me to provide a quick recap for those who did not have the pleasure of experiencing the scrimmage in person at the TD Garden or watching it online live.

Jay Pandolfo Gets Invited to Bruins Camp

Jay Pandolfo (Photo Credit: Guenny/Flickr)

Today it was announced that ex-Boston University star Jay Pandolfo has been invited to attend the Bruins training camp on Sunday.

Pandolfo was a part of the New York Islanders organization last season and appeared in 62 games with the team.  He registered 1 goal and 2 assists with an average of 10:55 time on the ice. His career high was 14 goals in 1998-1999 season with the New Jersey Devils.

Pandolfo could easily fit into the third line mix and fill the position that was attained by Benoit Pouliot last season.  Or, the Bruins could bump up fourth line Daniel Paille to the third and fit in Chris Bourque, Lane MacDermid, Ryan Spooner or Pandolfo into the mix.

Pandolfo has been skating in Boston for the past week at BU and the Ristuccia Arena, sporting a Bruins jersey for the first time during Friday’s practice.  Pandolfo told Boston reporter Fluto that the jersey was given to make him feel like he fit in.

With the Bruins set to take on the Rangers in the home opener, a veteran player may be the right choice to go rather than put a ‘new’ guy in big boy skates, but that’s something that is left for the coaches to determine and not us. We shall see when next weekend comes.